The committee met Thursday as part of its Review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

President of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Elaine Feldman outlined what the agency does and the issues it faces. She described the four “triggers” that initiate a CEAA Environmental Assessment (EA), the legal and structural restrictions the CEAA faced, how the CEAA works with the provinces and recent improvements that have simplified the CEAA’s work.

Committee members were interested in what percentage of resources were dedicated to environmental assessments where there was only marginal possibility of environmental impact, the amount of hours required to complete an average EA, the future state of funding for the CEAA and if Feldman was concerned with the future resources of the CEAA.

Members also asked about estimates for future projects that will require environmental assessments in the new few years, whether the witnesses felt the CEAA was involving itself in business decisions and if the department would be better suited to adopt an approach to environmental assessments that is not based on “triggers.”

Coming up: At the time of publishing, the next meeting had not been confirmed. The Environment committee meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m. Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency witnesses will return to testify at a future meeting, as this meeting was shortened due to a vote in the House of Commons.